Senior Year schedule: AP Physics C, Calc BC, AP German 4, AP Gov, APES, and AP Lit
ECs:
Programming (10,11,12) - Self-teaching myself languages, work on text-based games on Java, also practice web designing
Member of SGI (Buddhist Organization) - We have meetings every 2 weeks and discuss various things.
Japanese Cultures Club (11,12, Vice President)
Psychology Club (11,12, Founder/President)
Writer (Write short stories/ working on a novel) - I also wrote a script for a HS play
Volunteer:
German Saturday School (80 hours)
Library (30-40 hours)
I have no awards except the AP Scholar/honor roll that don’t mean much.
I plan on majoring in computer science. I have almost nothing about my ECs that are geared towards my major (not to mention how much they suck ). I don’t know if I am able to get into a good CS school… Are there any schools that don’t really put much emphasis on ECs that are decent? I also live in California by the way.
Cal states only have 4 questions regarding EC’s and their admissions is based on your CSU GPA and SAT/ACT scores. The exception is Cal Poly SLO, but EC’s account for only about 10% of the MCA score points in their admissions.
You should also consider the UC’s since most will put emphasis on your UC GPA/Test scores/Course rigor and essays vs. your EC’s.
Majority of the California privates tend to be more holisitic so EC’s will come into play but your EC’s are not bad at all. Good Luck.
I don’t know who’s been telling you that these are “terrible ECs,” but you are SERIOUSLY delusional about what you need in that area.
College admissions officials say over and over that ECs are a distant third to grades and test scores – some of them say it’s more like fourth or fifth, after teacher recs and essays. In spite of this, students always seem to focus, to an almost unhealthy extent, on whether their ECs are “good enough.” It’s a waste of time. Nobody cares as far as I can tell.
My daughter had ECs that, compared to yours, were seriously crappy. If you think yours are terrible, you would think of hers that no college would ever look at her. Well guess what, she was admitted to UCSD and UC Davis, and she is attending Scripps (her top choice) right now – she was admitted ED.
Stop obsessing over your ECs – they are fine! Your grades and test scores are also excellent. Are you one of those students who thinks they’re a failure if they don’t get into Stanford? Because you have a perfectly good shot at plenty of good CS schools.
Thanks a lot, that was very reassuring. I guess this is a consequence of creeping on regular decision threads of the top colleges and perusing the stats of those students accepted. Also, I guess I am afraid of disappointing my parents because they always had high expectations for me and they always support me all the time (my older siblings weren’t very bright, so I am essentially their “only hope” as my parents refer me as).
We too were advised that your “EC’s should have something to do with your intended major”. Our D had outstanding leadership & excellence in her ECs but none of them had anything to do with her intended major. It did not hurt her a bit in admissions.
Only hope for what? That kind of talk isn’t kind or helpful. My husband’s family thought for years that he wasn’t very smart. Turns out he’s dyslexic. When people make disparaging comments about their kids’ intelligence, I always wonder which side of their family they think they take after. People say, ‘the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,’ for a reason.
I think it’s actually good if you have ECs that are separate from your intended major. Think about it – do you think a school wants a CS department that’s full of students who have no interests outside of programming? I think the fact that you wrote the script for the high school play is going to make you sound a lot more interesting than if you spent all your free time inventing new programming languages or whatever you think schools want to see.
Are you looking at California public schools primarily? What can your family afford to pay for college?
). I don’t know if I am able to get into a good CS school… Are there any schools that don’t really put much emphasis on ECs that are decent? I also live in California by the way.